


And The World Spun Fast

by PyroKlepto



Category: Judging Amy
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-03
Updated: 2016-03-21
Packaged: 2018-05-24 12:05:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6153175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PyroKlepto/pseuds/PyroKlepto
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The world of Hartford, Connecticut goes reeling when a terrible accident nearly sends a member of the community into a coma. As he wavers on the thin thread that separates life and death, those that know him begin to realise just how much they took him for granted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Grigiocuore](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grigiocuore/gifts).



> After a long discussion with Grigiocuore, I was inspired to write this. I'm not sure how long it will be, but I can't see it really ending up too long. The chapters will probably be rather short. That said, enjoy, and feel free to leave feedback!

Dangerous neighbourhoods were bad enough. Add in an abusive household where multiple members of the family were involved with gangs, and it was even worse. To pick up a child from such a place by yourself would be near suicide. 

So of course Maxine Gray was going to attempt it.

Sean Potter paced back and forth in the DCF office. He had spent nearly an hour that morning trying to explain to Maxine why going out to the De Luca house to pick up the children was a bad idea, and why they needed to wait for the proper time. She had spent nearly an hour ignoring him. 

She had left not long ago, almost certainly to go find the De Lucas and take the children into custody. And Sean couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a very bad idea. She hadn’t even taken anyone with her! The least she could have done was ask Robert or one of the other social workers to accompany her.

He paged her for the fourth time that morning, and received no response. She was almost certainly ignoring him. 

Sean picked up his mug of coffee and sipped at it, staring down at the paperwork on his desk. The chatter of other social workers reached his ears, making it difficult to concentrate on his thoughts. They were always a little rowdier when Maxine was gone. He hadn’t yet managed to get them to respect him quite as much as they respected her.

Normally, that bothered him. Right now, for whatever reason, he really didn’t care.

After several minutes of nonstop thinking, Sean heaved a sigh and shoved his paperwork away. He downed the rest of his coffee - now lukewarm, having been forgotten for so long during his argument with Maxine earlier on - and walked toward the door.

“Mr. Potter? Where are you going?” Kimberly asked, looking up from her computer. 

“To find Maxine,” Sean replied shortly. “I won’t be long.”

Before Kimberly could protest, or say much at all, Sean had exited the room and was making his way outside to the street where his car was waiting.

 

It didn’t take long to get to where the De Lucas lived. He already had the address, and it wasn’t too terribly far away. Sure enough, when he got there, he saw Maxine’s car parked alongside the curb. There were cars parked behind and in front of it, so Sean pulled over on the other side of the street in the nearest free space he could find, and made his way over to the house.

The door was shut, and at first glance it seemed no one was home. He hesitated, glancing all around, making sure he wasn’t in immediate danger, and then rapped on the door. 

There was no answer. His stomach lurched, and he knocked again, this time a bit harder. “Maxine?”

If she had been hurt - or worse, killed - he would never forgive himself for not being firmer, for not commanding her to stay away…

Then suddenly the door swung open and there stood Maxine, looking more than a little wary but not hurt in the least. Silver locks of hair were escaping the confinement of the bun she had put them in, framing her face, but she was unharmed. “Sean? What are you doing here?” 

He blinked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other in an absentminded sort of way before replying in as stern a voice as he could muster, “I couldn’t let you come out here by yourself. I don’t know how many times I need to tell you that this is a dangerous area.”

“I’m well aware of that, Sean. Which is why I’m trying to usher the children out of here before their parents come home.” Maxine disappeared into the house again. “They don’t want to stay here, but they wanted to pack up some of their belongings…” 

Sean hesitated on the doorstep. Law stated you couldn’t just walk into someone’s house when they weren’t home… but he had come this far. He finally crossed the threshold and walked inside. 

“Tiana?” Maxine called. “Tiana, you and your siblings hurry up!”

Sean looked around the house. It didn’t look as though anyone had properly cleaned in days, if not weeks. Dirty dishes were strewn across the counters, and a lightbulb was missing from one of the fixtures. Shards of glass on the floor betrayed what may have happened to the bulb.

Foosteps sounded, and Sean turned in that direction. Three children came tramping around the corner, holding backpacks. The two girls - one the eldest, one the youngest - were standing near each other while the boy hung back behind them. 

Something about them stood out - the two girls had their mother’s dark skin tones, but the boy had his father’s paler, olive complexion. That was part of the reason why Maxine had been so urgently insistent upon helping them - the De Lucas were a family that stuck out like a sore thumb and that made them easier targets, unless they kept their children locked away. And no child should be forced to choose between being in constant danger, or being hidden away forever.

“Tiana, Kami, Angelo - are you ready to go?” Maxine asked, smiling at each of the children in turn.

The oldest of the two girls nodded, taking the little girl’s hand. Angelo crept up alongside his sisters, pushing his messy hair out of his face. He gazed up at Sean, looking a little wary.

Maxine walked over to them and carefully guided them toward the door. Tiana tugged on her sister’s hand and murmured something to her brother, helping shepherd them outside. Sean waited until everyone had left the house before surveying the room once more and following behind.

Outside, Maxine helped the children into her car, chattering away pleasantly about anything and everything except the fact they were leaving home. Sean tood a short distance away, continuing to keep watch.

Maxine shut the door after the children had settled in and turned back. “Will you be coming with us, or will you stand there for a while longer?” Her tone wasn’t harsh so much as it was a bit teasing.

“In my own car,” Sean replied, nodding across the street to where his vehicle was parked beside a telephone pole.

Maxine returned his nod. “I’m going to take these three back to DCF.” She walked around her car and climbed into the driver’s seat. 

Sean, slightly lost in thought, watched as she drove out of view. Then, giving a tired sigh, he crossed the street to his own vehicle. But just as he reached it, a white Jaguar cruised up on the opposite side of the street. 

Cautious now - you could never be too careful in a dangerous neighbourhood - Sean opened his door slowly, trying not to watch the car too conspicuously.

“Hey. Hey, you! Who are you? Why the hell is my front door open?”

Oh. Oh, no. The rickety door hadn’t stayed shut when Sean had closed it. He looked up from his own car just in time to see Mr. De Luca had exited the Jaguar and was storming over. 

Usually, Sean would take out his ID and explain he was from DCF - but this wasn’t usual circumstances, and this man was no typical abusive father. He was a gang member, and even Sean knew better than to try to confront him.

Before Sean could climb all the way into the driver’s seat and shut the door, two strong hands seized the back of his coat and dragged him backward, throwing him against the telephone pole.

Sean’s ears were ringing and his head spun. On instinct, he lashed out with his leg. The kick connected with De Luca’s chest, knocking him back. Sean scrambled for his car, all but throwing himself into the front seat, slamming the door, and fumbling for the keys.

De Luca started pounding on the window, shouting incoherently. Sean blinked hard, clearing his vision, and finally slipped the key into the ignition. He started the engine and stamped his foot down on the gas pedal, tearing away from the curb far more quickly than was legal. 

As he sped down the street, Sean glanced into the rearview mirror. De Luca had just shut the door of his car - and then he was in fast pursuit.

Oh, God. Oh, God. This wasn’t good, at all.

Sean maintained his speed, mind racing. His first reaction was to go back to the DCF - but no. No, he couldn’t do that. The De Luca children were there, and so was Maxine. Besides, it wasn’t exactly wise to lead a gang member straight to the DCF. He couldn’t go back there, not yet.

So he turned the steering wheel sharply, going down a road that would lead away from the DCF. He would go on an aimless drive and hope that he could lose De Luca, somehow. 

But then De Luca’s Jaguar surged forward, slamming into the back of Sean’s vehicle and sending a jolt throughout the interior. 

Frantic now, Sean sped up, trying to pull ahead. He couldn’t believe this. He had only meant to come and make sure Maxine was safe. He hadn’t planned on ending up in a car chase with an angry gang member!

But here he was. And he had no idea what to do. He almost hoped a police officer would spot him going over the speed limit and pull him over, if only because they carried guns and could possibly neutralise the threat that was De Luca.

No help came. 

Sean searched for another road he could turn onto, so that he was no longer driving straight. Then he saw an intersection up ahead. The light was green. If he could just get there before it turned again… 

But just as he approached the intersection, the Jaguar slammed into his car from behind again. 

There was the sound of screeching metal and the stomach-turning sound of rubber skidding on wet pavement. Sean lost his grip on the wheel, head snapping forward. A rough tug, the taste of iron in his mouth, the sensation of being yanked back and forth like a puppet on taut strings, another shriek of twisting metal just as the entire car jerked violently to a stop upon impact with… with… something… something solid, a crunching sound, shards of glass shattering everywhere, slicing skin, chiming against the keys… 

Smoke. Horns blaring outside. Shouting. 

Blackness.


	2. Chapter 2

“There we go.” Maxine set the package of cookies she had picked up at the store down on the table. The De Luca children looked at it eagerly, but didn’t touch it until she gave them a reassuring nod. “I have to get back to work for now, but there’s chess, a Gameboy, and a few books in the basket over there.”

They nodded, and Maxine turned to leave. 

“Ma’am?”

She looked back. “Yes, Tiana?”

The eldest girl met her eyes. “Thank you.”

Maxine smiled. “Of course.” She raised her hand in a sort of wave, then exited the conference room and made her way back to her desk. 

She sat down, turning her chair to face the door, watching it while she shuffled aimlessly through paperwork. With each minute that passed, she expected Sean to walk in. And each minute, he didn’t. 

Of course, she had only been back at DCF for about ten minutes - not that long - but he had said he would be following behind her in his car. Surely he couldn’t arrive much later than she did… 

Maybe he had decided to stop for coffee or a bite to eat. It was, after all, nearing lunch. Never mind that he would almost always page her to let her know where he was if she was expecting him. He may have simply forgotten. That must be it.

Maxine absentmindedly reached into her coat pocket, withdrawing a small package and slipping a cigarette from it. She lit it, holding it between two fingers. Tendrils of smoke wisped up toward the ceiling as she continued watching the door, to no avail.

Before long, she buried herself in paperwork. There was no use staring at the door. A watched pot never boiled, after all. Despite her inability to focus on the words in front of her, Maxine found that time passed somewhat more quickly if she attempted to do something with it.

“Ma’am?” A quiet voice piped up beside her.

She glanced over, automatically snuffing her cigarette out against her paperweight and tossing it in the trashcan. “Angelo? What is it?” She managed a smile at the nine-year-old, unable to keep from casting a brief glance at the door.

He pulled his hair back as though into a ponytail, though he didn’t have a band and so let it fall back again. “May I please have some water? I’m thirsty.” 

“Of course.” She rose to her feet, taking a cup from beside the coffeemaker and filling it with water. “Here.” She passed it to the boy, who held it in both hands, very carefully.

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“Maxine is fine.” She smiled at him. For a moment he looked up at her with a level of confusion - but then he hesitantly returned the smile.

Angelo didn’t go back to the conference room with his sisters, instead standing there beside Maxine’s desk, sipping his water and rocking back and forth on his heels. 

“Do you need anything else, Angelo?” Maxine asked, deciding to throw all her energy into focusing on the De Luca children. “I can find you something to eat, if you like. Cookies aren’t really the healthiest of foods, after all.”

Angelo shook his head. “No, ma’a--Maxine. I just thought maybe I could stay out here for a while. Tiana’s tryin’ to teach Kami chess, and it’s a game for only two players.”

“I see.” Maxine nodded. “Well, do you like to draw? I have some paper here, and a few pencils. Most of them are grey, but I have a red one as well, and a blue one.” 

“Yes, please.” Angelo’s eyes brightened at the mention of drawing.

“All right, then.” Maxine dragged an empty chair over to her desk, placing a few sheets of paper and the pencils in front of it. “There you are. I’ll do some of my work while you draw, how does that sound?”

Angelo nodded, climbing into the chair and sitting crosslegged before setting his water down beside Maxine’s long-forgotten cup of coffee and picking up one of the grey pencils. He started scrawling shapes onto the paper, and Maxine eventually turned away, trying to focus on her paperwork for longer than a few moments. It was more difficult than she thought it would be, but she managed. 

An hour passed, and she resisted the urge to reach for another cigarette. No matter how worried she was over Sean, she didn’t generally make it a habit to smoke in front of children. 

Where was he? There was no way he would have stayed at lunch for this long… 

“Maxine, look.”

She blinked, glancing down at the paper Angelo held out. He had drawn a dog, all grey except for the blue eyes. “Oh, it’s lovely, Angelo. Why don’t you go show your sisters? I’m sure they’re done playing chess now.”

He nodded, jumping down from the chair and throwing a ‘thank you’ over his shoulder before hurrying into the conference room where the girls were.

Maxine sighed quietly to herself and reached for another cigarette.

 

Hours passed. Before long, the world outside had darkened considerably and someone had taken the De Luca children to a place they could live until paperwork was finalized. Most of the social workers had gone home, and a silence fell over the building.

And still Maxine sat at her desk, smoking cigarette after cigarette, downing cup after cup of hot coffee, and watching the door.

She paged Sean for what felt like the hundredth time that hour alone. Just as the last time, she received no response. 

The door opened and Maxine sat up straighter, alert and waiting to see Sean walk in, to make sure he wasn’t terribly injured. 

But instead of Sean appearing, Vincent walked in. “Mom?”

She managed a forced smile. “Yes, Vincent? What a pleasant surprise, you hardly ever visit me here. Do you want some coffee? There’s always more than enough.” She rose to her feet, avoiding his gaze, moving toward the coffeemaker.

“No, Mom.” He stepped forward, intercepting her and taking her arm. “Come on. You need to come home.” 

“No, I-I can’t,” Maxine replied, fumbling with a few packets of sweetener that were resting in a basket beside the coffeemaker. “I’m--”

“Waiting for Sean Potter,” Vincent finished. “I know. I called Kimberly to ask where you were. Lauren’s teacher had to call me so I could come pick her up and take her home.”

“Oh, heavens,” Maxine said. “I’m sorry, I meant to call Donna and ask her to get Lauren, but I forgot.”

“It’s fine. But look, come on home now.” He started guiding her toward the door.

“I can’t,” Maxine repeated. “I need to be here when Sean comes back.”

“I doubt he’ll come back here this late. He’ll probably go home,” Vincent replied. “You can keep calling him, and if you want, I’ll drive you out to his house to check there later. After dinner.” 

Maxine wanted to protest again, but finally she set the coffee cup she held down, snuffed out her cigarette, and tossed it in the trashcan. “Fine.”

The two of them made their way outside to Vincent’s car, leaving Maxine’s in the parking lot with the decision that she would hitch a ride to work with Amy on her way to drop Lauren off at school. 

After walking inside the Gray home, Vincent went upstairs to find Lauren. Maxine trudged into the kitchen, paging Sean again to no avail. Muttering under her breath, she crossed over to the cupboard and withdrew the bottle of wine, pouring herself a glass and taking a long sip from it. 

“Grandma!” 

Lauren came running up to give Maxine a hug, and then tilted her head, glancing from the glass of wine to Maxine’s face. “What happened? Why do you look sad?”

“I’m not _sad_ ,” Maxine retorted, giving Lauren a look. “I’m just… tired. Now, everyone out while I make dinner.”

“Ma, maybe I should make dinner,” Vincent said slowly, as Lauren ambled out of the room humming. “You should go rest.”

“No. I’m perfectly fine,” Maxine said. “I’m sure Sean is safe, and simply isn’t answering his pager for whatever reason. I’m not worried at all, stop acting like I’m going to faint dead away.” 

“Mom. Your hands are shaking, and you’re drinking wine.”

Maxine rolled her eyes. “I am allowed to have one drink to unwind after a long day, Vincent! Please go keep Lauren entertained. I can manage making some broccoli well enough. If it makes you feel better, I’ll use the leftover meatloaf for the rest of our meal.”

He gave her a concerned look, then nodded in a reluctant manner and left her in peace.

Maxine drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, turning in a circle and regarding her surroundings. The kitchen seemed empty. Too empty. It took her a long time before she finally realised why everything seemed off. 

Sean wasn’t present.

More than once, she had received news at work that left her shell-shocked. And he would drive her home, walk with her inside, and stay with her until he was certain she had calmed down somewhat.

And when everyone thought something terrible had happened to her, she had come home to see Sean in the kitchen with Vincent. 

It was only now that she realised the quiet way Sean would lend his strength and support to the Grays, no matter what had happened or which member of the family it was. If this had been happening with anyone else, he would have been nearby, waiting and listening along with Maxine.

But it wasn’t happening with anyone else. It was happening with Sean. _He_ was the one missing this time. And it frightened Maxine.

She looked around the kitchen again, despair causing her heart to clench in her chest. She gave a quiet, slightly trembling sigh, and then set about to making supper. Surely Sean would be at home when Vincent drove her to check on him.

 

But he was not home. And no matter how often she paged him, she received no response.

Maxine didn’t sleep at all that night.


End file.
